Why Is Moving So Tiring?

It’s not a secret that moving to another home is a rather daunting task. That’s right – there are many good reasons why most people fear the prospect of having to move from one home to another.

In a nutshell, what makes moving so hard is the fact that it often proves to be an extremely exhausting experience, both mentally and physically.

The degree of complete and utter exhaustion a person can feel after moving to a new home is believed to be unique to the relocation process.

But why is moving so tiring?

What exactly makes moving so exhausting at the end of the day?

Below we will explain in detail why moving is so tiring for your body and your mind.

The idea, of course, is that once you understand the major reasons for your physical and mental exhaustion during or after the move, you may be able to do something about it so that you make your move less tiring and less stressful. 

Here’s why moving is so exhausting:

Moving is physically demanding

There’s no doubt that the process of moving house is rather physically demanding. When you think of moving, the very first image in your head is likely to be that of heavy furniture pieces being lifted, carried around, and taken out of the house to be loaded into the moving vehicle.

The second picture in your mind will probably be of scores and scores of cardboard boxes – large, medium, and small, waiting patiently to be taken out and loaded safely as well.

However, the relocation process is much more than simply moving furniture and boxes, and there are a myriad of strenuous things to be done even before Moving day comes around.

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Scores of things to do as part of the preparation

Moving can become overwhelming pretty quickly when you try to organize everything by yourself. Most if not all of the move-related tasks that you have to take care of before the move-out day will require (great) effort and energy from you.

Even seemingly simple tasks such as changing your address are likely to tire you out, especially if you choose to change your postal address in person – that is, to visit the nearest post office and initiate the Change of Address (COD) Procedure.

You will also need to visit your family physician in order to obtain the necessary documents (medical records) for registering with a new doctor in the destination place. What’s more, if you’re moving with any pets, it’s recommended that you take them to the vet’s office for a thorough checkup and possible advice on how your animal friends can handle better the stress of moving to a new home.

The truth is that the super-busy period of preparing for a move will include too many energy-draining tasks that will slowly but surely lead to physical fatigue.

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Packing for a move

Packing for a move will be the single most energy-consuming task of them all.

Basically, packing should start as soon the house move is confirmed and will continue all the way until Moving day itself. This means that you’ll be pretty preoccupied with packing every single day while you’re getting ready to move out.

Packing is an extremely exhausting job not only because it lasts for days and days on end, but also because it’s just hard work in itself.

First of all, you will have to sort out all the items you own in order to figure out which ones you will pack up and move with you, and which ones you will leave behind. The sorting process is best done with the help of a detailed home inventory.

Secondly, the process of packing your belongings for transport is definitely going t to make you tired, especially when you have to protect each fragile item individually using padding materials such as wrapping paper and bubble wrap.

Packing Timeline: What to Pack When for Moving

Moving day

Unless you have done yourself a favor by hiring professional movers to protect and transport your possessions, moving day will be the most exhausting period you’ll need to survive, period.

Moving countless packing boxes filled to the brim with various stuff, as well as carrying large and heavy furniture pieces out of your home and loading those into the moving truck will be a very taxing job for you. Asking friends to give you a hand is always a good move, but you’re more than likely to exert and exhaust yourself even when you have friendly helpers with you.

Bear in mind that even if you’ve made up your mind not to move any furniture with you, the mere task of taking all those boxes out of the place to be loaded safely, often along flights of starts, will tire you out long before you’re done with the task.

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Post-move tasks

Unfortunately, the physically demanding work won’t end when you move into the new home. In most cases, you won’t have enough time to recover from the fatigue you must be feeling by that point.

You will most likely give yourself one day to rest a bit from the inevitable moving day exhaustion. However, the next task is unpacking which, similar to packing, can take many days to complete. And what about the other post-relocation tasks that you will need to take care of, often within specific deadlines too?

To make things even worse, you may have to go to work shortly after the move is complete and that’s definitely not something that your body and mind will enjoy too much.

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Why is moving so hard? Now you know, at least when it comes to the physical side of moving house.

Moving is mentally exhausting

You shouldn’t underestimate the mental aspect of moving from one home to another either. It’s important to understand that body and mind go hand in hand, so getting physically exhausted will also affect your mental stamina, and vice versa.

It’s a well-known fact that moving is stressful for various reasons (see below), and when you subject your body to unhealthy doses of stress and anxiety, you will start to feel mentally fatigued pretty soon.

Beware that mental exhaustion can affect you rather negatively, including your ability to make sound decisions throughout the moving preparations.

Too many important decisions to make

One good reason why moving is mentally taxing is the fact that you will have to make hundreds of important decisions within a short period of time.

Arguably, the most critical decision to make early on is whether you should hire professional movers or move by yourself. The choice you make at that moment in time will determine all the preparation steps you have to take next to guarantee a successful move.

Hire Movers or Do It Yourself: 10 Questions to Help You Decide

Next, your decision-making ability will be tested as soon as you start going through your things with the purpose of figuring out which ones you’ll take with you and which ones you’ll just leave behind. Sorting out your possessions will be a mentally and physically exhausting task, especially when you happen to be in two minds about whether or not a specific item is worth moving.

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Of course, there will be many more crucial decisions to make when getting ready to move out, including whether to organize a farewell party for your best friends. Naturally, all those tough decisions will wear you out mentally to some degree.

Too much stress and anxiety

Moving house is often ranked as one of the most stressful events in a person’s life. But why, why is moving so stressful?

• Leaving friends and family behind is likely to be the hardest thing you’ll have to do when moving away to another part of the country. This one will hurt because these people are the closest ones you have – the ones you love and care about, the ones who understand you and help you out whenever you might need help.
• Worrying about losing your hard-earned money can be a huge stressor when moving house. Yes, you know moving can be an expensive affair but paying much more money than you should or being scammed by a dishonest moving company are two scenarios that can definitely stress you out from the start.
• Worrying about not being ready on time can put a lot of pressure on you when you’re preparing to move out. The dreadful thought of still having a ton of stuff left to do on the morning of moving day can prove to be overwhelming for your mind.
• Worrying about finding some of your things damaged after the move can make you really anxious and nervous. This is especially relevant when you’re moving expensive and valuable items that are also fragile in nature.
• Worrying about inflicting property damage on the place you’re moving out of or the one you’re moving into can also prove to be rather stressful, especially when you know how expensive it can be to fix some types of property damage.
• Worrying about you or a loved one sustaining any injuries on the day of the move can cause you a great deal of anxiety. Moving day can be dangerous when you choose not to trust professionals who know what it takes to guarantee safety on that extremely unpredictable day.
• Worrying about the unknown can make you feel too anxious, thus putting a great deal of emotional stress on you. Fear of the unknown is a real thing that can preoccupy your thoughts and exhaust you mentally more than you think.

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Adaptation period

You’re likely to feel unsettled right after moving into the new place and that’s perfectly understandable. After all, you’ve just moved into a new house or apartment and everything around you is still unfamiliar, strange, and foreign. You may not even know anyone in that destination place – a clear disadvantage that will make your post-move adaptation period even harder.

It usually takes a lot of mental effort to adjust to unfamiliar surroundings after the move is complete.

Some people tend to adapt much more slowly than others when placed in a strange environment and if you happen to be one of those individuals, then you can expect the post-relocation adaptation period to take not days or weeks but months.

Proper adaptation can be a genuine mental struggle that will exhaust you mentally if it drags on for too long. You should also be careful not to fall victim to a treacherous condition known as relocation depression. Also known as separation anxiety, it’s a profound sense of nostalgia for the good life and close friends you had to leave behind.

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Moving often means less sleep

Now that you know why moving is so tiring – both physically and mentally, it’s time to take a look at one common condition that has the potential to affect you greatly during your moving preparation – SLEEP DEPRIVATION.

Basically, sleep deprivation means that you’re not getting enough hours of sleep. There are many reasons why you may end up sleeping less at night – you may be too worried, anxious, or stressed out by the upcoming move to sleep peacefully, or you may have decided to sacrifice hours of your sleep in order to finish more work (usually to pack more boxes).

If you do end up with fewer sleep hours than you should (adults need between 7 and 8 hours of sleep each night to feel healthy the next day), you should know that those cases of sleep deprivation are only temporary and you should get back to your normal sleep routine as soon as the move is complete.

In the meantime, however, you should expect to have minor symptoms of sleep deprivation that will affect you physically (less physical strength) and mentally (drowsiness, inability to concentrate, memory problems, etc.).

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Moving house can be tough on your mind and strenuous on your body, especially when you’ve made the brave decision to move by yourself. To make things much easier on yourself, hire top-rated movers to lower the moving stress you must be feeling and lessen the physical effort you’d have to put in otherwise.